MA says "stop now Tom!" she wants to eat! No more pictures!
On the red molding to the left you see where her hands have rubbed the paint off, from holding that doorway repeatedly each time she walks into the bathroom.
How can I paint over things that show she lives here loves here!?

Breakfast is done!
Now she is in her room.
She chose the color of her room- pink! MA loves pink!
I put a glossy finish (popular in the 90s) over it.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Three weeks ago Jacob was having surgery.
The Drs and nurses ask the same questions.
Is he adopted? Where is he from? Why did you adopt him? Have you adopted before?

Tom loves to tell about the boys! LOL!!

I like to be brief and factual. Make a point! I tell their story to encourage anyone to adopt or donate to the adoption of a little special needs orphan boy! Then I try not to say much because my point was made. These boys need families!

Tom talks....a lot :o) Bless his heart!

He was talking faster than he was thinking when he was telling the Drs and nurses how we adopted 2 first and then three. He was telling them that the expense was less if adopting more than one.
He told them "It's cheaper by the dozen!" HA!!
Oh my crazy husband!
All the Drs and nurses burst into laughter after he said that!

It really is not cheaper to adopt in multiples! The program fee may be only one payment, but airfare, food, clothes, etc add up for the other added pumpkins quickly! :o)

But saving money is not why we adopted 2 and then 3 precious boys. In 2 1/2 years!

It was time!
We are getting older quickly! I hate how fast each day zips by. Tom was 56 when we started, he'll be 59 this year. I was 53, and I'm 56 this year. We wanted to do this before we turned 60! Everything gets harder as you age. Our energy levels are lower. We tire more easily.

BUT! Our parenting skills improve daily, we can't waste what we've learned! Wisdom comes with living. Life is not about retiring from the mission here. Spreading God's LOVE is a job to do until God takes us home!
This is how we do it!

I have to laugh. When J & P came home, they had 2 big dresser drawers. And a few boxes of diapers. They slept in play pens in separate rooms. If Julius stayed in his! LOL!

Then Noah, Mosie and Jacob came home-
it changed to a whole dresser for 5 boys. A few more boxes of diapers stacked up................

Until now....... it is FOUR dressers in 3 rooms! Two bottom bunks,(which the boys like, so no one tries to get out) a small pak&play bed for Mosie. Samson's bedroom is also a play room! LOL! A play pen set up for Jacob to stand and watch TV in the living room. And boxes of diapers are..........everywhere!! A top empty bunk holds summer clothes. And extras.

I thank God for these little blessings all day long.
But they are not cheaper by the dozen! LOL!! And the five I have are more than enough to fill my heart to overflowing.

We got them home just in time!
God is good!

Get the word out with us please!
Little boys are dying, they need us! They need to come home!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Not to brag or anything but...........but you will never guess what mom told me! (Mosie)I am her very very very favorite boy in the whole world!
I knew it!
Mom is incredibly blessed to have me!
That's why I laugh all day long! Mom just loves me!! Dad loves me, sisters, brothers, they all love me-me-me!! Of course I'm mom's favorite! But sh don't tell anyone!

I was so excited when mom told me! (Pauly) that I am her very very very favorite boy in the whole world!! Well I knew it!! That's why I give her those big squeezie hugs! And never let go!! Mom just loves me!! She is incredibly blessed to have me! But don't tell anyone!

My mom told me (Noah) that I am her very very very favorite boy in the whole world! Well of course I am! I'm happy and cheerful and loving. I love to be with her and I listen closely as she tells me what we are going to do! I have more energy than the energizer bunny! Mom is incredibly blessed to have me! mom just loves me!! But shh don't tell anyone!

Mom says I (Jacob)am her very very very favorite boy! I already knew that! She is always fussing over me! Dressing me cute! Mom just loves me!! She is so incredibly blessed to have me! I am a good boy who appreciates everything in my new family. But sh don't tell my brothers! :o)

Ahem..... My mom says I am her very very very favorite boy!! Yes me Julius! I spend almost all day with her from my multiple time outs!!LOL! We are almost tied together thanks to my incredible testing skills. Mom just loves me! Mom is incredibly blessed to have me!
And you know the drill..........sh........don't tell anybody! LOL!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Lately I have been wearing lots of one piece jammies just because I am a comfort kinda guy! I don't like lots of clothing on and off and up and down and layered. I like fleece sleepers...........period!
Mom says that's o.k. because most days she wears her jammies (tshirt and crop jammie pants) ALL day!! (shhhh........I never told you that!)

Ooops! Did mom hear that?

O.K. see what I mean? Shirts are for pulling up, pants are for sticking hands waaaay into. Socks are for throwing..........and if I'm lucky....he-he!! Noah will put the whole sock in his mouth!! Then mom AND dad scream NO!! It gets pretty exciting around here!!

Dad says the couches are too dark for his photography. Mom says that's the least of his photography worries!
I am cute!

But wiggly!

Mom says take the vest off! I say- it took forever to get it on! Don't take it off unless you are sure we are done! LOL!!

Should I pull the shirt out too??

Fine- I'll leave it in! See my hands are up!!

This is geeeettttting booooring!

help?!

Yup, dad decided to try again! The vest is back! LOL!! I kinda like the couch pictures!

Well I like the couch the first 20 pictures..........then I kinda zone out!

Yup, you guessed it. Back in the kitchen!

And, dad wet my hair down................why???

Seriously? could I take a bad picture?

Mom says you can really see how big my tummy is getting! My old pants are waaay too short! My legs are chunky! This darn shirt and tie is tight on my chubby little neck! This suit (size 18 months) is being donated to another little guy as soon as we are done! LOL!

Next year I'll need at least a size 24 months.............if not a size 3!!

Saturday, March 16, 2013

After Christmas these Holiday turtlenecks were only $5 each. I searched furiously for something cute that all 5 could wear for a group picture!

Busy days flew by quickly.

We just did not get time to put the boys together for a group photo until this morning!

Yesterday Noah was to have his big surgery.
His Dr called Thurs night to cancel.
It worked out well for us, because we received another 4" of snow all day Friday.
Bumper to bumper traffic, driving in the snow 75 miles one way to the Children's Hospital in a 15 passenger van is not fun.
Hopefully April 11th it will not snow- that is when he will have his surgery now.

So this morning we decided to go for it!
Take the pictures!

Jacob is not just crying here.
He is "bawling". He has little control over his emotions.
When he is angry he cries.
When he doesn't like who is holding him he cries.
If you hold him too long he cries.
If he doesn't want to change clothes, or his diaper, he cries.
When he bathes he cries.

You see Jacob wants to be left alone.

But he is far from alone! And being alone here is not an option!

Of course he can play by himself. He sleeps by himself if he doesn't sneak over to Noah's side of the bed. He can watch TV by himself, his favorite thing. He can ignore us, push us away.

But we're not going anywhere. :o) He's never alone!

We LOVE him too much to leave him alone.

Just as God will never leave us. Just as God will never stop loving us.
To show Jacob God's LOVE, we won't give up on him.

Jacob is only 8 years old. (in 3 days) He doesn't really know what's best for him. :o)

But we do!

The other four boys tire easily and quickly from his crying. They don't understand why he cries. It wears on them.

Slowly they want to escape and get away from it. Poor Julius does not know how to handle Jacob's tears. What a good boy Julius is, patiently allowing Jacob to lean on him.

Six months have flown by since Jacob, Noah and Moses came home.

Jacob needs more time.

I remember learning at an adoption training that if a child was neglected, say- 7 years, it could take half as long (3 1/2 years) to recover.

I have seen some kids recover quicker.

Our Noah is happy as a clam.
And if Mosie gets any happier here he'll explode! LOL!!

And some kids never recover.

We pray Jakie will recover. We pray we find a way to reach him. He often responds to Isaiah. He really loves having a big brother! That's a start!

Adults with disabilities who have behavior issues have harder lives. They wear down caregivers. They aren't able to fit into the community to work or volunteer. We will need to expose Jacob to lots of people so he can learn how to make friends. He needs to learn to trust.

And so after these pictures we took a break.
And Jakie took a break from crying.

Later we finished taking pictures. Jacob was a little more cooperative and taking things in stride! Baby steps!

The only time I get discouraged when Jacob cries, is when I'm helping him dress, diaper or bathe. I wish he could know that I'm helping him. I wish he could know that if he stops crying we will finish quicker. He doesn't understand that he's pro-longing what he doesn't want by crying and pulling away.

Once we are done I can kiss him. He pushes me away. I'm fine with that. :o)
Still he's more relaxed physically because I'm not doing something to him. He's not crying- he's just letting me know that's enough! And he's free to do what he wants. Until we have to do it again! LOL!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

His family was on their way. Five weeks and they would be united. Oh the JOY that was going to be!

God took him home.

On earth he could not know how LOVED and cherished he was by so many so far away.

He does now.

On earth he never knew he had a family. A family aching to show him LOVE.

He does now.

My heart aches for his family. My heart aches that he will not have the life I prayed, imagined, and hoped he'd have, with a mommy, daddy, sisters and brothers.

There just are no words. Other than to Thank God. Praise God.

Precious Jonathan you touched the hearts of many. You were a blessing to all. A tiny little messenger from God. Let us remember Jonathan by continuing our fight to bring more boys home. Boys like Jonathan and our Mosie below. Please help save a boy!

Please pray and encourage Jonathan's family.
(((HUGS)))

(Moses August 2011 in the orphanage infirmary. Age 6 1/2. See how tiny his hand is. In April, 8 months later, that hand could not even grasp around Tom's finger it was so small. (Tom does not have huge fingers)

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Her husband is not well, he is in the nursing home. This all happened to him unexpectedly and suddenly. He is not a senior citizen. A few weeks ago he was working and caring for his family and 2 children left at home.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Our Julius and Pauly are learning sign language. They like it, it is like a game for them.

But Noah, Moses and Jacob are not interested in signing or signs. If I sign "eat" Jacob becomes very distraught and wants food. If Jacob is hungry he sucks air in his mouth making a little popping swallow sound. Noah and Moses never express hunger. They also like pictures.

Noah wants to talk. He often mimics sounds we make. If we say "hi" he makes a loud exaggerated "hi" sound. It makes you think he knows what he is saying, but he is just mimicking what he heard. Noah even sings!! One day the kids were all busy and Noah was off to the side and he started to sing! It was so cute and so sweet! I couldn't say anything or move a muscle because then he would stop. He sang for about 5 minutes. I loved it! Now how do I get him to do it again?!! LOL!

Moses "talks" by laughing or coughing. Every laugh or cough means something. Right now we only understand a few laughs! ;o) We need him to learn to make vowel and consonant sounds!

So I found this Language Tutor on Amazon! It was pretty reasonably priced, $78.00 and free shipping. The cards to it are a little more pricey on Amazon, but you can find them other places cheaper- even Zulilly right now.

Its durable and I love how the control buttons are enclosed on the bottom so Julius can't "re-set" it!! LOL!!

I was excited to find this and wanted to share! Our older boys needed someway to learn by repetition. They need to hear the words over and over. I also like that there are only 2 buttons on the front and Noah already pushes them! We haven't received the cards yet LOL!, I'll let you know how they respond to using it! Right now we are learning all of the extra functions on it like making your own cards!!

Friday, March 8, 2013

He had his pre-surgery physical today. First he needed a bath. Which he tolerated well considering he still fears the bathtub. I'm thinking by next month he should like baths! Mosie sure does! It is so much fun when they like the water and splash! :o)

Jacob is now 1 week post-op from his less complicated version of the same surgery. He is doing very well. In fact yesterday as Tom carried him to bed, Jakie hung over his shoulder, and patted his daddy on the back. That is huge for Jacob! He still cries through every bath. Poor baby.

Mosie needs this surgery last, maybe in June, Dr said~ after flu season. He has been on antibiotics 3 weeks now and still is constantly congested with green boogies. :o( Poor little guy. His tonsils/adenoids are out so its not quite as bad as before. I'd love to see some normal clear running boogies!!

Three boys still need tonsils adenoids out.

We are getting dizzy, keeping up with weekly and monthly, testing thyroid on three boys now. Mosie off meds till next week? Pauly on meds. Julius saw the Pediatric endocrinologist on Wed., also 70 miles away. Not a fun drive, stop and go traffic almost all the way home. We are waiting on blood tests for?? which thyroid disease it is? possibly meds?? Not sure. I still think its Graves. But the Dr said he is tall and his weight is in the 50th % so she thinks Hypo. We'll see. His levels fluctuate, that's why she thinks hypo, not hyper. But he has the fast heart rate and jumpiness. I noticed some kids in an online discussion had ADD with their hypo thyroid? Pauly and Mosie are quite sluggish without meds. Julius is our only "zippy" guy! Hopefully Monday we'll find out.

Our 3 new students in homeschool are doing fantastic.
Here are a few of their IEP goals we have been working on with a few goals already accomplished!!

Noah~
stand independently, consistently (accomplished)
hold a spoon
fist grab cheerios to feed himself (he can get 2 in his mouth now!)
chew (yes! he chews!)
understand simple verbal commands in English, like "come here" (he understands some English, no commands yet)
take his shirt off (he can after arms are out)
"pick" a toy to play with (He's very curious about toys now and shows toy preferences!)

Jacob~
hold a spoon (not yet :o(
eye contact 5 seconds ( almost!)
stand (he will only stand in the playpen to watch TV)
move feet independently, while assisted with walking (coming)
help put shirt on (he will now assist with arms going into his shirt)
chew (not yet)
eat small chunks without choking (we weren't sure if he'd be able, he used to swallow "hard", but he is eating small chunks now.)
sign "eat" (he is so pre-occupied with eating, he refuses to wait, he cries to eat if he sees food)
respond to commands in English- right now we are doing "look" (depending on his mood, he will look if asked)

Moses~
stand (YES!! he can!!)
drink from cup (not yet)
hold spoon (yes)
make sounds other than laughing (we ask him to listen & mimic us, not yet)
brush teeth (yes, he can hold his toothbrush now!)
take off shirt (still a struggle)

We have a big blue therapy ball for developing core strength. The boys sit on it, Roll side to side sitting and lay on their tummies on it. They love it!

The goals for the boys are about the same. We could easily have them all do the same goals. All three are starting from scratch. But we try to set them according to their interest and motivation. Then we take into consideration their age, size and strength.

It is easier for Noah and Jacob to physically do some things, than it is for Moses. All goals are in place to teach independence. For example, Noah stands easily and readily, we are going to ask him to "walk" to us next. Jacob's legs are weak. He may not walk. We still hold him standing in front of us and we move his legs one foot at a time with our legs. He may never be strong enough to walk. But as long as we can keep strengthening his legs, he can bear weight, which is crucial as he grows. Moses can stand, which is a huge help, but we are not asking him to walk in any way yet. He is doing 4 point crawling! Drs have no idea if he'll be a "normal" size like Jacob. If he is unable to walk unassisted, his smaller size will make helping him easier.

We work one hour a day on the specific goals. We break it up to as many as 4 sessions. It has really helped the boys become more flexible in their days. They "look foreward" to us requesting these things and working on them. So when we try new things they are more open to trying something new!

I wish you could hear my 4 helpers (Isaiah,Kitty, Lysa and Faith) as they help me through out our day. It always amazes me how sweetly they talk to their brothers, as if the boys are the best part of their entire day! They make finding clean pants and t-shirts sound like great fun! And as they help change their clothes, or feed them, they even laugh with great joy~ ! It is music to my soul to hear their love for their little brothers, little boys that others didn't have time for. My helpers are wise beyond their years!

Monday, March 4, 2013

A sweet little boy.
Eight years old in 2 weeks.
He had his http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchiopexy surgery (both sides) and his circ. last Wednesday afternoon at our local hospital. The Dr told Tom he didn't think Jacob would have any pain!
Tom told the nurse "That's because the Dr has never had this surgery!"
We could tell..........it was painful.
After his Tylenol with codeine it was a blessing to see him sleep.

He has a little halo over his head :o)

Setting him in a sleeping position is hard. He prefers to sit until he falls over in half and then sleep.

Don't mind his face and hair. :o) He was so handsome and clean pre-surgery! Afterwards, well, he was feeling just as bad as he looks here.

Using all his strength pulling himself up to stand. He did not want to smile! He has gained so much weight since he came home, I don't think his Baba could lift him now!

When anyone doesn't feel good~ big brother comes to the rescue! Jacob LOVES his brother Isaiah! And Isaiah LOVES him right back!

A little tickling!

Some silly sounds! A little sweet talk!

And he can forget all about his "owie" for a while!
Beautiful brothers for life, one year apart in age!
Thanking God for little boys!